Lady Oscar (1979)
Directed by Jacques Demy

Film Review

Lady Oscar is a little known work directed by one of France's most influential film directors, Jacques Demy.  It was commissioned by a Japenese production company and is based on a hugely popular Japanese strip-cartoon.  Among the requirements placed on Demy was that the film be made in English, so he cast mainly English actors, although the fairly tight budget prevented him from hiring any big names.

Although the film is noticeably handicapped by its sponsor's brief, Demy manages to create a colourful, engaging film, brought to life by his customary fluid photography.  It is similar with his earlier triumphs such as Les parapluies de Cherbourg and Les demoiselles de Rochefort in that it transposes a real-life situation into a fantasy world where everything appears pretty and harmless, although a glimmer of tragedy can be glimpsed beneath this veneer.

Unfortunately, the absurdity of the plot, dialogue and characters makes this Demy-esque artifice appear more nauseating than endearing.  Most off-putting is the fact that every character in the film, even the lowliest street urchin, speaks with a crisp English accent that could cut butter from fifty yards.  Generally, the quality of the acting is mediocre, although Christina Bohm's fluffy bunny Marie-Anotinette is quite enjoyable. Catriona Mac's portrayal Oscar is so wooden and devoid of character that you would hardly notice she was in the film at all.

Overall, the film is a disappointment.  It lacks the purity of Demy's fairy tale cinematography and the rigour and depth of a serious period drama.  There is an attempt to draw some sense of irony out of the inevitability of the fall of the court of Versailles, but, hampered by weak characterisation and some risible dialogue, it just fails to ring true.  The film's comic book origins are all too apparent.

Film Synopsis

In 18th century France, Oscar-François de Jarjayes has had the most extraordinary of upbringings.  Unwilling to recognise her as a girl after her birth, a proud nobleman insisted that she be reared as a boy.  She grew up as such in the company of her nurse's nephew, André Grandier, who became her closest friend and confidant.  Now twenty years of age, thought by all to be a young man, Oscar occupies the honourable position as personal guard to the Queen of France, Marie-Antoinette, whilst her childhood companion André toils contentedly in the stables.

At Versailles, Oscar finds herself attracted to the handsome aristocrat Axel de Fersen, although his attentions are apparently monopolised by the radiant queen.  To avoid a scandal, Fersen is obliged to flee to America, just as Marie-Antoinette is about to fall victim to a fiendish plot involving a necklace concocted by her scheming enemies.  On Fersen's return to Paris, Oscar attempts to engage his interest by dressing as a woman, but as she does so she is confronted by André, who insists he is devotedly in love with her.

A love-match with André is not something Oscar has ever contemplated, nor is it possible since they belong to two very different worlds.  But, with the French Revolution just around the corner Oscar's world is about to be wiped from the face of the earth.  Disillusioned with the attitude of her queen, disgusted by her father's cynicism, Oscar finally decides to come out in support of the Revolution, to the delight of André, a fierce Republican and the only man who has ever truly loved her...